See Death Grips’ Disorienting Head-Cam and Skype-Shot ‘Lock Your Doors’

Sacto rap punks use SXSW live footage for "No Hands" clip

Death Grips’ mysterious “No Hands” YouTube series has culminated in a powerfully disorienting music video for NO LOVE DEEP WEB track “Lock Your Doors.” As SPIN’s own Charles Aaron reported, the Sacramento rap usurpers were stashing some tricks up their sleeves for their Saturday South By Southwest (DXDG, if you prefer) set. Zach Hill beamed in his furious drumming live via Skype, and the fellas onstage were sporting some high-tech goggles. As it turns out, the headgear (employed by Hill as well) contained cameras — hence, “no hands” — whose frenzied footage was later edited together to create the clip you see above.

Early on you can hear Hill saying, “I hope it’s loud enough,” but with Death Grips that’s never really a problem. While the visuals capture the live performance from various highly distorted angles, the audio is a mix of the original official recording and sounds culled from that day (the screaming crowd, for instance), heightening the already heavy song’s sense of urgency and energy.

According to Pitchfork, Hill says the “No Hands” series may not be over. Also, this isn’t the band’s first experiment with unusual cinematography: last year’s “Double Helix” clip was filmed using the rear-view camera of a Prius.